


Fearless

by UnicornPopcorn14



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Blood, Brotherly love and hopefully fluff at the end, Dark, Gen, Happy Ending, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Language, Leo isn't my favorite but I love him, No Character Death, No Incest, Other iteration character jumped into this universe somehow, Should've been a one shot but I'm stupid, Sorry Leo I had to do this, Torture, Torture Chamber, and lazy, for sure, hugs everywhere
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornPopcorn14/pseuds/UnicornPopcorn14
Summary: The night where the turtles were supposed to have fun and relax, turns into something that would stick with the four heroes forever. Getting captured, tortured, mentally exhausted, and barely escaping with their lives; is unsurprisingly hard to deal with. Not to mention that one of them had to endure all the pains for their sakes…(Leo-centric! Read tags before tapping into it!)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 232





	1. The Capture

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Six Hugs](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24197125) by [UnicornPopcorn14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornPopcorn14/pseuds/UnicornPopcorn14). 



> The original ‘Leo’s Moment’ in Six Hugs! ^^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is kinda complicated because of the order of the episodes, so here’s the sequence I’m gonna work with:
> 
> The events of “Minotaur Maze” take place first, then “Flushed, But Never Forgotten”, and then “Snow Day”.  
> And all of that happened before “Insane in the Mama Train”
> 
> I know that “Flushed, But Never Forgotten” is supposed to be in season two, but that’s the order that I watched the show in, so I can’t really change the arrangement in my mind now, sorry! x)

Leonardo had never been afraid of death, that was a thing about him.

In missions? He was usually the first to send a blow. At home? He was fearless enough to step in front of Raph or Splinter whenever he disagreed with them. Even when Draxum had once threw him off a 100 floor building, he wasn’t all that panicked about the situation.

Anyone else would call that a complaint, but Leo called it a gift.

His father had once said that he was the bravest out of all of his sons. And while his brothers doubted that, Leo held onto that belief all his life.

He was sure that one day, he was going to prove that to them.

And that day had already come. More than once.

The first time Leo accepted to take a beating for his brothers, was a time that he had deserved the punishment, truth to be told. He had been the one who got them in the pizza maze in the first place, for selfish reasons. That’s why, when Minotaur decided to punish them all, the first sentence that came to his mind was,

_“I’m the one who cheated. I’m the one who created the portal to save my brothers. Punish me! ~~Their champion.~~ ”_

But he hadn’t expected that his brothers would be so okay with that,

_“Yes, yes! Punish him!”_

He hadn’t gotten the chance to prove that he was brave enough to take the punishment that day, because he’d found another way out.

But then, another time came around, which was more serious and more threatening. And that was when Piebald had been too close to flushing his family. His hero act emerged once again,

_“Flush me and let my family go!”_

His brothers had been silent after he’d said that sentence, as if he hadn’t just literally given his life to save them. They never brought it up, ever. And Leo wasn’t sure if he should be disappointed or grateful.

The last time when something like that happened, which was in the snowy day, wasn’t a time where _he_ had offered to forfeit, but instead his older twin brother,

_“Leo, sacrifice yourself to buy us time!”_

And what pained the most, was that Donnie didn’t even hesitate to say the sentence.

…

Maybe his family didn’t care at all. Maybe that was what he was destined to do. Maybe one day, he was going to sacrifice himself for good, and do what his brothers desired.

He didn’t have a major role in this team, anyway. So it wouldn’t affect them that much, right?

* * *

“Well, what do you wanna do next, guys?” Raph asked, just as the turtles made their way out of the ‘Run of the Mill Pizza’ and started strolling along the alleyway.

“After a meal like this, all I wanna do is go home and snooooze~” Leo was the on to reply with a brush of his hand.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m with Leo…” Donnie said flatly.

“Yeah. My belly can’t take moving around too much…” Mikey said with a smile and a pat on his stomach, “Man was the pizza goo-” The box turtle suddenly stopped, and extended his arm to stop the others with wide panicked eyes.

The other three, alerted, came to a halt, and the leader asked, “What is it, Mikey?”

“I’m smellin’ something…” Mikey replied quietly, and the elders took out their weapons instantaneously, standing in a circle and getting on guard.

“Something friendly orrr~” Leo asked with his sword up in front of him.

“Based on Mike’s expression, I can confirm: Not that much.” Donnie replied.

“Can you tell us what we’re lookin’ for exactly, here?” Raph asked, looking over the youngest who still wore a stern face.

“I’m not sure…” Mikey replied in a hush, his eyes travelling everywhere, “Something new. _Someone_ new. And I can’t pinpoint where he is…”

The elders tried to look for an odd scent, but didn’t come up with any. It was true that Mikey had the best sense of smell, and when he panics about a situation, they all follow.

Still with the weapons in hand, the turtles searched with their eyes everywhere, but nothing showed up.

Getting tired of this, Leo lowered his sword slightly with a groan, “Is this guy gettin’ out or wh-”

“AGH!” All was stopped when the elders suddenly saw Mikey getting thrown across the alleyway by some invisible force, and the bricks cracking behind his shell, causing him to drop on the ground, unmoving.

“MIKEY! WHA-” Leo could only scream before a net trapped him, Donnie and Raph together.

“DONNIE, DO SOMETHING!” Raph yelled at the genius, trying to break free.

“Well, do you think I’m enjoying my time being here? I’M TRYING!” Donnie screamed, putting on his goggles, “I can’t find what’s attacking us!”

“My sword can’t cut through this!” Leo exclaimed in panic, “Are they after Mikey?!”

“I don’t know! But we gotta get outa’ here! He’s not moving!” Raph yelled.

“Can you open a portal beneath us, Leo?” Donnie asked.

“How am I supposed to know when we’re all trapped together?! I might hurt _you_ , guys!” Leo said.

“I definitely don’t care!” Donnie yelled without thinking twice, “A crazy someone’s out there wants to take our baby brother!”

“Do what you gotta do, Leo!” Raph ordered.

Leo, without a second thought, struggled to stand up in order to do as told. Donnie and Raph made their best to stop moving for Leo to perform his action. However, once Leonardo was ready to open the loop, a palette was suddenly thrown out of nowhere, and began ticking…

The older turtles only gasped, before-

_BOOM!_

-smoke filled the alley, causing all of them to cough harshly. Leo fell on one knee, his plan of getting them out of there flying away. He could hear Donnie scream,

“HOLD YOUR _*cough*_ BREATHS! IT’S A POISONOUS GAS THAT _*cough*_ FORCES YOU TO SLEEP!”

Upon hearing this, Leo made his best to keep in from breathing, but he couldn’t help himself when he spotted a human, wearing a gas mask, picking up his baby brother.

“NO! MIKE- _*cough*_ ” He entered another coughing fit and soon fell down.

Donnie and Raph exchanged looks with wide eyes, panicking inwardly. They both made their best not to scream or do anything rash, but unfortunately, Raph had inhaled enough of the gas for him to get knocked out, and Donnie couldn’t hold in anymore, and followed suit.

…

“Agent, the other critters are down. Should we leave them?”

“ _*Quietly*_ Never thought that there were four of them… _*Loudly*_ No, let them pay us a visit. I’m _dying_ to find out their thoughts about all this…”

“Very well, sir.”

Closing the phone, a smirk crossed the agent’s face…

He was going to have fun with these turtles…

**ROTTMNT**

“Ugh…” The slider moaned in discomfort, wincing as he lifted his aching head. His eyes peeled open in difficulty, to be greeted by the darkness. Which Leo was grateful about. His body was stiff as he tried looking around, and by the time he’d finished the round, he realized a few things.

The first, was that his hands were cuffed, and no, not like in the movies where the character is tied to a table, but on the _wall_. He tried moving his legs, to find them immobile as well. And while Leo’s arms weren’t up above his head, there was still a stinging pain in one of them. One that made him wince slightly with each move.

The second, that the place he was held in was designed in a way that was eerily similar to Draxum’s lab. Huge, with some small, flickering Neon lights and strange weed that was growing out of random places. There was no way that he was even near New York. The Hidden City was the first guess that came to the turtle’s mind when he thought about their location.

The third, that even though it was dark, his brothers’ scents were all over that place. The only thing that made Leo feel better, to be honest. However, as he smelled his brothers, he also smelled blood. He didn’t know if one of them were bleeding or if the guy who captured them just liked killing so much that this became the lab’s typical smell. Either theories weren’t near relieving.

Squinting his eyes slightly, Leo could finally pinpoint where his brothers were. The familiar figure of the genius was before him, with the exact same posture as him. A larger figure beside Donnie could be seen, which by no doubt was the oldest, also chained on the wall. Tilting his head, Leo found the last one, just beside him.

As much as he was relieved, the silence they were emerging was troubling, causing bad thoughts to cross the slider’s head. And with that, he began to call frantically,

“Guys? Guys… GUYS! WAKE UP!”

“Nngh… who…?” Leo could hear the tired voice of Donnie, and needed no smart-brains to tell him that his brother was dazed.

“Donnie!” Leo called happily, but still in a slight panic, “Are you okay? I can’t see you well…”

He listened as his twin groaned, and Leo guessed that Donnie was trying to locate him. His theories were true when the older asked, “W-Where… are you?”

“Right in front of you, bud.” Leo said quietly, “Raph’s beside you, and Mike’s beside me. They’re not up, yet.”

“I see…” A hum of perception from Donnie sounded, then a grunt, “My tech isn’t with me… I swear if something happened to-”

“I think we should be worrying about other things right now, bro.” Leo said, sounding scolding.

“Oh, right.” Donnie nodded in agreement, and without asking, he began calling, “Raph? Raph! Come on buddy, rise and shine!”

Leo followed, in a much gentler way, “Mikey? Mike. Come on, Miguel, let your big brother know that you’re okay…”

It took a few minutes until the youngest uttered,

“…Y-Yeah…?” He asked weakly, answering Leo’s call of his name.

“MIKEY! Thank God. You’re alive.” Leo took a breath of relief; while his twin was still struggling with the oldest,

“RAPHAEL I _SWEAR_ IF YOU DON’T WAKE UP RIGHT NOW-”

“Huh…?” Donnie paused upon hearing Raph’s feeble voice.

“Finally!” Leo could _hear_ Donnie roll his eyes, “Figured I should lose my voice in order for you to arise…”

“What happened? Everybody okay?” Raph immediately got into mother-hen mode, ignoring Donnie, “And why is it so damn dark here?”

“I’m okay…” Leo was the first to answer, “My arm’s just a bit itchy… but other than that, okay…”

“Fine, too…” Donnie said flatly, “Except for my shell that’s rubbing against the totally unsanitary wall. How do you guys live like this?” He asked in an annoyed tone.

“Quit whining, D.” Raph said tiredly, “What about you, Mikey? How you’re doing?”

Silence…

“Mikey?” Leo questioned, growing a bit worried.

“Y-Yeah, yeah…” The youngest’s voice was quiet and hoarse, “I’m okay… Just…” He trailed.

“Just what, Michael?” Donnie asked sternly, also a bit concerned.

“M-My chest… kinda hurts… Hurts to breathe…” He said between huffs of air.

The elders’ frets shot up, and Donnie immediately started instructing, “Take non-deep breaths, Mikey. And try not to talk too much. It is a big chance that your ribs have been fractured after the hit you received.”

Leo saw a shift of Mikey’s head, as if nodding, “O… Okay…” and began doing as told.

Silence lingered afterwards, and Leo now knew where the scent of blood came from. He completely forgot the strike Mikey got and felt awful about it. How they let their guard down and were taken by surprise; and how they got captured in the easiest way possible. He knew that no one blamed him, but Leo still felt that he could’ve at least done better.

His thoughts were interrupted as Donnie asked, “What about you, Raph? How are _you_ doing?” His voice was quiet as he spoke.

“Totally fine, bro…” Raph said, also quietly, “Just tryna’ find a way out of these holders…” He lowered his voice a bit more, “Kinda feel bad for Mike, though… Is he gonna be alright?”

Donnie took a moment before saying, “He sure needs medical attention, but he’s gonna be fine as long as he follows my orders…”

Leo sighed, drawing his brothers’ attentions to him, “Should’ve just left him asleep…” He muttered, hinting about the youngest’s situation.

“I’m fine, Leo…” Mikey was the one who assured weakly, “It’s not your fau-” He stopped, hissing slightly.

“Mikey, no speaking!” Donnie sharply warned, then softened his voice, “But, he’s right. As much as I hate to admit this…”

“Don’t beat yo’self up, Leo…” Raph said, “No one is blamed in this. We got in this together, and we’ll get out of this together.”

A faint smile crossed Leo’s face, which was sadly consumed by the darkness. He didn’t need them to see it, though, because he knew that they were already sensing it. The tension was slightly fading, and each one of them was not as panicked as they first woke up. That was a good sign.

Some seconds later, Leo broke the silence, “Alright… so… anyone has any idea about whoever caught us?”

“Some Yokai, maybe?” Raph guessed, “I mean, we’re in the Hidden City, right?”

“But…” Leo countered, “I’ve seen a human take Mike right before blacking out…”

“A _human_?” Donnie voiced in surprise, “Well, that is… unexpected…”

“And it sure can’t be good…” Raph said, still trying to break the binders.

“I admire your pessimism, turtle…”

Every turtle froze upon the new voice that joined them, and groaned when light suddenly illuminated the place. After a solid minute of their eyes adjusting, the four siblings finally spotted their captor. A tall, slim human with a black coat stood on the ground between them. He had a smirk on his face, as well as an eye-patch on his right eye.

The laboratory could be seen better, now. Several machines and metallic tables were scattered all around. And as Leo previously thought, the place did look so much like Draxum’s lab. The slider wondered about how this guy got a place in the Hidden City, and how he found it, since this wasn’t exactly the right place for humans.

All the elder turtles then turned to the youngest to examine him, and their eyes widened faintly. Not only was Mikey’s right side cracked and held a bruise, he also had several cuts that applied blood trickling from them. Leo found himself automatically growling at the human after seeing this, and wasn’t surprised when he noticed that Donnie and Raph were doing the same.

“Woah. Easy there…” The man mockingly said, holding both of his hands in the air. Er… one hand, because the other was just a robot arm. His smirk was never leaving his face, which angered the elders even more. “I _did_ tell my assistant to go easy on him. Didn’t expect that beating him would so… _enjoyable_ for him.” His grin widened when the turtles’ growls loudened.

“Who are you and what do you want from us?!” Donnie was the one to question in a hateful spit.

“Oh, I apologize for not introducing myself.” The man, with his stupid taunting voice, said, “Welcome to my examination lab, terrapins. The place where you-”

“Dude, you’re introducing the place, not yourself…” Leo cut with a roll of an eye, “Who are you?”

The man scowled at the slider, yet collected himself and made his way towards him, his smirk returning as he stared at the nasty gaze this ‘Leonardo’ was sending him.

“You annoy me, turtle. And you know what I do to creatures who annoy me?” He uttered, trying to fear the host under him.

“Uhhh, first of all, my name is not ‘turtle’. Second of all, how am I supposed to when _you didn’t even introduce yourself_?” Leo asked, sounding logical.

“Well, you wanna know what I do? Let me show you,” The man’s grin didn’t fall, but swiftly got out a blade and jabbed the slider’s shoulder, earning a satisfying scream from him.

“ _LEO_!” Every other turtle in the room screamed, and Leo cracked one eye while panting heavily, locking a death stare with the man.

“I suggest you to stop speaking, _turtle_ , or another one is coming up…” He said, backing away and deciding to leave the knife inside him, “Call me Agent. Agent Bishop.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to stop here in order to upload it with ‘[Leo’s Moment](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24197125/chapters/59214514)’ in the other story. Chapter 2 is coming very soon! Stay tuned! ^^


	2. The Torture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not ‘very soon’ like I said, but whatever! ^^
> 
> Slightly longer, but who cares? :D
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> WARNING: Language, blood and torture!

Being ‘racked with pain’ was an expression that never crossed Leo’s mind before. Sure, he’d gotten hurt plenty of times during fights, trainings, even from his brothers; but it was never to a point that drove his mind to blink on and off. The idiom itself is rather funny, because the word ‘rack’ means pain, so how can you get ‘pained with pain’? It didn’t make sense.

But it kinda did now.

His shoulder throbbed like there was no tomorrow. His blood poured like some kind of a never-ending waterfall. Leo knew a thing or two about blood loss, and was aware that it never came with pretty consequences.

And so, he was beyond glad, as well as irritated, that _that creep_ had left the knife there. Glad, because that prevented him from losing too much blood and completely pass out; but that was the same reason he got irritated, because that was what his captor desired. Leo was smart enough to see that Bishop was going to do some bad stuff; not only to him, but to his brothers as well; and wanted each one of them to witness the other’s suffering.

And that what Leo mostly feared. Especially since his baby brother was there beside him. Donnie and Raph could cope with a bit of violence, but Mikey was still a kid who couldn’t even handle PG-13 movies; and Leo’s last wish was for his youngest brother to get scarred for life.

He wasn’t able to do much about that, though. The holders seemed strong, and he couldn’t simply tell Mikey to look away or cover his ears. He could, however, reassure his brothers that he was okay for now. That that was nothing. A small lie may or may not help.

Lifting his head slightly, Leo now realized the concerned eyes that were landed on him, and that his brothers were moving their mouths, talking. Or calling for him. The slider was perplexed for a second before concluding that he’d fallen into a brief shock. Searching with his eyes slightly, Leo didn’t see Bishop anywhere. He winced, and that was when his hearing sense returned to him…

“LEO, TALK TO ME!” The panicked voice of his older twin caught Leo off guard, causing his head to shoot up, resulting in him panting slightly.

“I’m okay... I’m okay…” Leo reassured before he even thought about it, trying not to move too much with the knife inside him.

His older brothers’ forms relaxed slightly, before Raph spoke, “Ya almost had us right there, Leo…” His tone was worrisome, “Y’r eyes were open, but you weren’t speakin’…”

Leo wasn’t really focusing that much, yet he nodded nonetheless. Turning his head to the side, the slider found his baby brother closing his eyes, unconscious. Dread filled as he thought that Bishop did something to him. However, Donnie seemed to see right through him, and answered before Leo could even question,

“He’s alright. Bishop didn’t do anything. Just his normal reaction to witnessing you being stabbed. He didn’t take it very lightly…”

Leo wasn’t sure if he should feel better, but at least Mikey wasn’t going to be present when all the bad stuff were going to happen. Unless the coward decided to forcefully wake him up…

Speaking of him, where was the guy, anyway?

“Where is the guy…?” Leo said, voicing his own thoughts, tilting his head faintly.

“Right over there…” Raph was the one to answer in a dark tone, shifting his gaze further. Leo followed Raph’s line of sight, and spotted their captor, whose back was facing them, working on something in front of one metallic table.

“Doesn’t look like… he’s preparing something friendly…” Leo said in a quiet voice, his intonation not humorous at all.

“He certainly isn’t…” Donnie confirmed in a tone that could scare anyone off.

“I swear I’m gonna make him wish he never existed once I’m out…” Raph said in a note that Leo had never heard from him before, causing the slider to look up at them both. The elder males were fixing their gazes on Bishop and didn’t look back at him, and Leo could see how much Donnie and Raph wanted to tear the man limb by limb. Leo knew the reasons: Attacking them, Turtle-napping them, breaking Mikey’s ribs… all that stuff. His mind paused slightly, wondering if the list of reasons also included ‘stabbing Leo’s shoulder’. But no, they should care about Mikey more right now. He was in a worse condition. That stab was nothing. In fact, they shouldn’t have cared about it at all.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard footsteps, and scowled at the approaching now-familiar human.

“Enjoyed your little chit-chat?” Bishop asked mockingly, in one hand he held a test tube with some liquid in it, and the robotic one held a syringe.

“You better leave ma younger brothers outa’ this from now on!” Raph warned, growling.

“Oh, but I’m afraid I won’t, snapping turtle…” Bishop smirked at the dangerous hisses he got from Donnie when he began creeping closer to Mikey, “You see, my first intention was to capture this unique box turtle over here.” He brushed Mikey’s face with his robotic arm slightly, before turning to the others again, “However, I did not expect that there are other fascinating creatures similar to him. Once my assistant informed me about that fact, I asked him to bring you over just to study your reactions upon your ‘brother’ being experimented on…” He finished, bringing the syringe needle inside the test tube, sucking a good amount, then facing the unconscious terrapin.

“How did you even know about us?!” Donnie questioned in a hurry, hoping to take the man’s mind off injecting Mikey with whatever just now. It seemed to be working, because Bishop turned to him, “No, better yet, how come you _only_ found out about Mikey? He never leaves our side.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense.” Raph said, following Donnie’s plan, “If you knew about him, then you should’ve known about us…”

“‘He never leaves our side’? PfffHAHAHA!” Bishop suddenly laughed darkly, causing the three turtles to exchange perplexed gazes. What was that guy hinting at?

After settling down, the Agent explained, “I’ve been tracking down this reptile for _three days_ , and never once was he with you! Every day, at 4AM, this little terrapin comes out of its hiding place, runs for some time, and then heads back an hour later. How foolish of you to miss that!”

Donnie, Raph and Leo were at loss of words, their eyes were wide and their mouths were slightly open. They were trading gapes, each one of them trying to find a proof that the other had an idea about this, but came out with none. Then it was true…

“Mikey’s been goin’ topside… _on his own_?!” Raph whispered in shock, for a moment forgetting where he was.

“That was definitely not bargained for…” Donnie copied the oldest’s tone.

“Mmm… Leo…?” The sudden murmur of the youngest caused the elders’ hearts to drop on the ground, and went further down once Bishop turned to him, making Mikey’s eyes to flutter in fear.

“Oh, so my little test subject has awakened? How delightful.” Shifting the syringe to his human hand, Bishop’s robotic hand suddenly came in contact with Mikey’s busted ribs, which made him gasp harshly and choke a cough. He didn’t even have the ability to scream due to the metal hand that suddenly grasped his throat, forcing Mikey to look up at the man’s gruesome face.

The whole time, the elders were screaming and cursing at Bishop,

“LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU SICK BASTARD!” Donnie screamed, hissing like a mad turtle.

“DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH A SPECK ON HIM!” Raph warned, “I SWEAR YOU WON’T SEE MY FIST COMIN’ AND SMASHING YOU!” He began to violently fight against the holders.

“Ah ah ah…” Bishop shook his head and turned around to the oldest, while still holding Mikey’s neck, “I suggest you don’t struggle too much, snapping turtle. One wrong move could cause…”

Raph wasn’t listening to him, and when the holder made a slight hint of loosening, a wave of electric shock trembled the leader, sending him screaming and falling limp afterwards, gasping.

“RAPH!” Donnie wailed at the sight of his big brother.

“…this.” Bishop finished in a twisted grin, turning back to the gasping orange clad as if nothing happened, “Now relax and enjoy the show, reptiles. I promise it will last as long as you-”

“YOU’RE A FUCKING COWARD!”

The villain stopped in slight surprise, turning to the eared-slider who hadn’t uttered a single word throughout all this. The turtle was sending him a death growl, and didn’t flinch when Bishop let go of Mikey –who panted and coughed thereafter- and began creeping towards him. When Bishop was towering over Leo with a pissed expression, he spoke,

“What did you call me?”

“A fucking coward.” Leo repeated without even stuttering, his feature solid and challenging.

In a split second, Bishop pushed the knife inside Leo with his human palm a bit further, resulting in Leo gasping and shuddering, but didn’t scream.

The rest were staring at the scene in horror, not daring to say a word. Though Donnie and Raph were slightly relieved that Bishop let Mikey go, they were still too concerned. That agent was still holding onto one of their younger brothers, and they could expect anything from him.

“You know I’m not the coward here…” Bishop said darkly to Leonardo.

“You are.” Leo spoke without hesitance, even though Bishop was still threatening with his hand, “Why else would you tie us all? Why else would you design these holders like this? You know you can’t take us out on your own. You’re afraid of- AGH!”

Leo stopped when Bishop pushed the knife further, and also squeezed Leo’s neck with his other robot hand, much like what he did with Mikey earlier. The other three gasped with wide-eyes as more blood drew from the shoulder that belonged to their now-pale brother.

Leo was trying his best not to panic with Bishop’s metal fingers around his neck. He knew that panicking would result to striving for breath, which wasn’t an obtainable option right now. Yet the pain in his shoulder wasn’t helping at all.

The slider was aware what he was doing. He was trying to piss this man off as much as possible, to make him take his frustration out on him rather than on his baby brother. Leo knew that this was a bad idea, and that he was playing with fire, because he could get seriously hurt from this. But taking risks was kind of his thing, and he could do anything if it meant keeping the others safe.

“Thought I warned you about talking…” Bishop said as he choked the terrapin, “You were doing well until a second ago…”

“I wasn’t talking… because I was dazed…” Leo said in a hoarse tone, “…Not because I was afraid of a maniac… like you…”

“I know what you’re doing.” Bishop spoke with a disgusted face, “And it isn’t going to work. My first target was this box turtle. I’m not planning dissect someone other than him. Once I’m done with him, I would send the rest of you back to where I caught you. That’s it. Your natural instincts and reactions towards danger is my top study right now.”

Leo’s heart felt as if being stabbed with each word, and he was thinking fast, trying to come up with anything. His mind blinked as he got it,

“You seem… to like deals…” Leo’s eyes were now watering from the lack of air, “Wanna… make one…?”

Raph, Donnie and Mikey exchanged clueless looks. Did Leo come up with something?

Bishop’s expression wasn’t readable, but it seemed like he was wrapping his head around that idea. He finally let go of Leo’s neck, causing the slider to gasp and pant harshly, and also cough.

“I’m listening…” The captor said wit his brows furrowed.

“Take me instead of him…” Leo said between breaths.

“What the-” Donnie frowned.

“Leo, what are you doing?” Raph asked in surprise.

Leo ignored them both, keeping his stare solid at Bishop’s single eye.

“Didn’t you even hear what I said? I want _him_.” The villain said, one hand in pocket as he signaled towards the youngest.

“I know. But _you_ should know that Mikey can easily snap your neck if he wanted to.”

Leo was speaking with so much confidence that it even scared Mikey himself. Donnie and Raph were confused, wondering about what Leo was hinting at.

“Where are you going with this?” Bishop questioned, his eyes glimmering with interest.

“Take me. I won’t struggle. I won’t bite. I’ll let you do whatever you want.” Leo said, “Finish me, I don’t care. And once you’re done, let them go.”

“LEO, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” Raph screamed.

“Tell me that you’re joking right now ‘Nardo or so help me I’ll bust your head once we’re out!” Donnie exclaimed in anger, fighting against the cuffs as he was thinking that his brother had finally gone stir-crazy.

“Leo…” Even Mikey uttered in disbelief.

Leonardo tried blocking all the noises away, and was just waiting for Bishop’s response. Before the human could answer, however, Leo remembered something,

“Oh, and one request.” Leo talked in simplicity, “Knock Mikey out.”

“ARE YOU INSANE, LEO?!” Donnie screamed.

Mikey’s eyes widened, before seeing his brother’s intention. Leo didn’t want him to witness any of what was coming up.

“I like your offer.” Bishop gave a small grin, that Leo comprehended as an approval, “Deal.”

Just as the human uttered, he buried the syringe needle inside Leo’s neck, for the turtle to gasp harshly before falling limp.

“LEO!” The three called, their panic rising as Bishop took out a remote and pushed a button, unlocking the holders of the slider. Leo fell on his side, and the mad man took a hold of one of Leo’s arms, not even looking whether it was the injured one or not, and began dragging him towards the metallic tables.

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU INSERT IN HIS BODY?!” Donnie wailed, frustration reaching its peak. For the very first time he felt helpless. He couldn’t do anything.

Bishop lifted Leo’s entire body and slammed him on the table with no effort. Leonardo seemed to be so out of it to feel any pain. Once tying his legs and feet, the agent approached the genius,

“Fascinating. Your claws are coming out. The normal reaction for softshell turtles once sensing a threat…” He spoke in awe, much to himself.

“ANSWER ME!” Donnie didn’t care at all if his animalistic instincts were showing.

“I can’t trust that turtle, no matter how honest he sounded,” The agent grinned, not so fazed by Donatello’s wild hisses, “It’s a special kind of sedative. You’ll see.” Bishop walked backwards with his hands behind his back, “Oh, and, just so you know…”

The agent suddenly turned around and thumped Mikey hardly on the side of his head, causing the youngest to cough up briefly before fainting.

“NO!” “MIKEY!” Raph and Donnie shrieked, getting mentally exhausted from this.

“…I keep my promises.” Bishop finished, brushing off his hand.

“SCREW YOU AND YOUR RESEARCHES!” Donnie was practically bellowing, tears developing in his eyes. He was fighting with a dangerous power upon the cuffs, forgetting what would happen if he continued, and only remembered when an electric wave hit him. He yelped.

Bishop was enjoying every moment of this. He would lie if he said that this was all for research, because it was much more than that. Seeing these beings suffer was agonizingly satisfying and hearing them scream was like music to his ear. Enjoying torture was a trait he discovered in himself right after getting all his memory wiped. He lived for it, and watching the damage he was inflecting on those reptiles was a whole new level of entertaining.

However, one of those reptiles was stubborn and annoying, refusing to take the damage and was too brave for his own good, and that was that eared-slider that was now under his mercy.

Bishop liked challenges. Was fond of overcoming tough obstacles. Seeing that blue-banded broken down was what he looked forward to. The agent knew that he could’ve easily reached his desire by hurting one of Leonardo’s brothers, but he figured that hurting Leonardo himself would be more amusing.

Paying no attention to the screams and shrieks of the awakened duo that told him to stop, Bishop was now beside Leo, and snapped his fingers.

Leo’s eyes suddenly opened and gasped as if coming back to life. The captor moved towards the other side of the table in order to be able to see the reactions of the snapping turtle and softshell while working, and smirked widely at the dumbfounded expression he received, especially from the softshell.

Leo was confused about his sudden transport for a sec and looked around, before his bold manner returned and merely looked at Bishop. Not growling. Not hissing. Not threatening. Literally just laying there… waiting.

And Bishop hated this. He wanted fear. He wanted anger. He wanted the turtle to squirm. Even though the original deal contained non-struggling from the reptile, Bishop certainly wasn’t enjoying this.

Maybe he should try and force emotions out of him. That would be fun.

In the quick peek he casted to his brothers, Leo was beyond relieved when he spotted Mikey unconscious. One of the main reasons he asked Bishop to do this was because Leo was certain he wouldn’t be able to hold in his screams. That would’ve caused several weeks of nightmares to his baby brother. Last thing Leo wanted.

It was an easy task for Leo to hide how much he wanted to cut those ties, bite on the coward’s neck and watch him bleed to death; because Leo usually hid his emotions anyway. From the looks he received, Leo was aware that Bishop wasn’t pleased with that fact. But he wouldn’t break. He wouldn’t show vulnerability to this guy.

Leo was dumbfounded slightly when all Bishop did was raise his arm, and snap his finger.

It took a second, before every inch of Leo’s body was flaming, burning without a reason and it was little time until Leo started screaming like the actors in horror movies. He could hear his older brothers shrieking; either calling his name, swearing at their captor or threatening Bishop with his life to stop whatever was going on.

Leo was attempting to move his body to ease this, but that was a great mistake because the knife inside him would pierce with each flinch, causing him to lose more blood than he’d already lost. His breath hitched when Bishop suddenly caught the knife and pierced further, for the knife to penetrate him long enough to almost stick out to the other end. It was a nightmare, Leo knew, and he didn’t know how much time had passed already.

Bishop finally snapped his fingers after what felt like an eternity, and Leo’s pain subsided and left him with puffs of air. The sensation of his body returned and he grimaced, the soreness of his shoulder was enough to send him screaming again, but he kept it down, just for his brothers’ sakes.

The fact that his older brothers were watching him was grieving. Leo couldn’t imagine that Bishop was planning to do this to _Mikey_. Another reason that Leo requested Mikey’s knock out, to not let his baby brother know what he was about to go through.

Leo felt the cold metallic hands cup his face, and harshly force him to look at the heartless human before him.

“Had enough?” The grin of Bishop bored through Leo’s nerves and Leo made his best to hold himself against spitting at him. “We haven’t even started…” The captor’s smirk widened.

Leo didn’t let his anger reach the surface. That was what Bishop wanted, so he wouldn’t give that to him. “No.” He said in a strained voice that held no emotions.

He could see the small frown that crossed Bishop’s face before disappearing again. It seemed like Leo was so focused onto holding his feelings that he wasn’t hearing his brothers’ voices. But suddenly did,

“Please… leave him alone…” It was Donnie, and Leo was so shocked at the tone that he managed to turn to see his twin despite the hand that grasped him, and his eyes went vast. Donnie _was crying_. His passionless _twin brother_ was letting out tears because of him. The sight was enough for Leo’s heart to break, and he almost forgot the promise he had with himself about not showing emotion, until Bishop forced his head back to him, harder this time.

“Let him go, Bishop! Take me, I can handle this! Just leave ma younger brothers to be.” It was Raph next who spoke, and also sounded so helpless and broken. No, this shouldn’t have happened.

“You won’t be as fun…” Bishop simply said, his grin growing as he saw a small glim of Leo’s eyes that indicated that he was starting to get pissed.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, GUYS?!” Leo suddenly screamed, startling Bishop himself, “I’M RIGHT HERE, DOING MY BEST NOT TO BREAK, AND YOU JUST GIVE THAT GUY WHAT HE WANTS SO EASILY?!”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” Bishop ordered with a punch on Leo’s face.

Donnie and Raph’s eyes widened then turned to each other, realizing what Leo meant. Raph’s determination peaked before surprise, and started to silently plan something…

The punch Leo received pained him more than it should. And he coughed slightly, now realizing that blood had come out of his mouth. That was a bad sign.

“Time to cut you open…”

Bishop’s voice and some sounds of machines startled Leo, and he looked up to see that Bishop had set up a huge slitting cutter heading right towards his plastron. Leo’s chest tightened and he suppressed the urge of panicking or wriggling. It reminded him of the time SHELLDON was ready to cut Donnie in half in order to be their forth brother. How Donnie was so unfazed by the situation confused Leo right now.

Leo’s eyes snapped wide once Bishop’s fingers clicked together, causing the burning feeling to bite hard on him. His breath quickened faster and harder, desperately needing to grasp on anything, but couldn’t find a thing near his hands. Bishop’s laughing echoed through his ear while his back arched, his head snapped back and he started to scream.

The agent cackled darkly, his delight couldn’t be described. He was crossing his arms while hearing the screaming, along with the cutter that was slowly going to cut up the hard shell, but not deep enough to kill the pesky turtle. However, the squirming the slider was making could cause the machine to cut up a wrong place, and Bishop satisfyingly snapped his fingers again.

“Stop… hurting… MY BROTHER!”

The last thing Bishop expected happened, and suddenly, the largest turtle was somehow out of the electric cuffs, and jumped on him with full force.

“HOW DID YOU ESCAPE?!” Was what Bishop questioned while fighting beneath the leader. Raph was in his raging state, and with a large hand, he crashed Bishop’s head on the floor, _hard_. The oldest quickly took out the remote inside the agent’s coat, and pushed _all_ the buttons.

“DONNIE! GO AND FIND OUR WEAPONS! I’LL HANDLE THIS!” Raph screamed once he heard Donnie and Mikey crash on the floor.

“RAPH! THE CUTTER! IT’S STILL ON!” Donnie pointed out in panic, deciding to go towards it and stop it himself, but Raph screamed at him,

“I SAID I’LL HANDLE THIS! GO, DONNIE, NOW!”

Donnie was hesitant but moved fast and across the lab.

Raph let go of the now unconscious Bishop and swiftly took the head of the machine and pulled it, for the whole cutter to disconnect from the power source. Raph immediately let it fall on the floor and began untying Leo.

After the beats he took, Leo seemed to have fallen into another shock, as his eyes were open wide but wasn’t fully comprehending what was happening. His body was trembling and he was panting heavily in a dangerous matter.

Raph winced as his own burns stung but decided to not think about it. He’d made himself go into all kinds of electric shocks in order to break the binder. Otherwise, Leo would have been dissected by now.

After untying Leo, Donnie came back,

“RAPH, I FOUND THEM!” He said, throwing the Tonfā and Ōdachi towards him. Donnie wasted no time and sprinted towards the youngest to do a quick check up on him. He did just that, then secured Mikey’s weapon in his belt. His brother was going to be fine, even with that blow in the head.

He secured his baby brother with a rope up on his battle-shell, then turned to join Raph, but stopped with wide eyes.

Raph picked Leo up and examined him with a sorrowful yet a panicked feature. Leo was still trembling and it was beginning to worry the oldest, “LEO, SNAP OUT OF-” Raph suddenly stopped when something was sprayed directly towards his eye, making him scream and automatically drop Leo on the ground to rub his eyes. Once Raph opened them, his heart dropped.

Bishop was holding Leo, who had finally snapped out of his shock in the worst time. His arm was around his neck, and Bishop, with blood covering his face, was giving a wicked grin as he snatched the knife out of Leo’s shoulder.

“YAAAAAAAAAH!” Leo screamed hard, his blood pouring down in a quick pace and if he was going to die from anything today, Leo was positive that it was blood loss.

But even when Leo was on the verge, that didn’t stop Bishop from threatening the knife towards his neck.

“One. Fucking. Move. And he’s gone…” Bishop threatened once Donnie stood beside Raph, both of them too scared to even flinch.

Bishop grinned wider at their obedience, until he heard the next words of the slider,

“Go… without me…”

Raph and Donnie thought that they heard wrong,

“WHAT?!” Raph exclaimed, much in disbelief and surprise than confusion.

“I said… go…!” Leo frowned in annoyance, despite his state.

“You’re crazy to think that we’re going to leave you!” Donnie yelled.

“Mikey… needs…” He couldn’t continue as Bishop’s robotic arm tightened on his neck.

“Better do what he says.” Bishop smiled, closing the tip of the knife on Leo’s throat.

The elders’ hearts were aching with each pound. Donnie turned to Raph for an order, but Raph himself was seeming to get stressed right now.

“I’M NOT LEAVING YOU!” Donnie screamed in a heck lot of determination.

Leo closed his eyes in irritation. If he couldn’t convince his brothers to leave this way, he could convince them in another way.

“Do it…”

Bishop paused suddenly at the statement that was directed towards him.

“I said… do it…” Leo’s said again as though Bishop hadn’t heard him. But the captor was hearing well, and was now hesitating, despite everything he’d done.

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! KILL ME ALREADY!”

The way that Leo teared up and the tone he screamed with startled everyone, even the unconscious Mikey on Donnie’s shell. Bishop seemed to have frozen in place, not moving.

Raph took the opportunity, and in ninja speed, he knocked Bishop on the ground, taking the knife from his hand and directing it on Bishop’s throat. The man seemed dazed and hyperventilating, as if something knocked the air out of him other than Raph.

“DONNIE! LEO’S SWORD! PORTAL! HOME! NOW!” Raph talked in a series of words just like a robot, before throwing the knife across the lab when Bishop didn’t fight back. But even so, Raph brought his Tonfā and smacked it hard repeatedly across Bishop’s already bloody face, leaving Bishop with a ton of deadly injuries that would cost him his life if untreated. Pleased Raph enough.

Donnie was beside Leo, who was gasping for breath and paling quickly, holding onto his bleeding shoulder. The genius couldn’t activate the portal, no matter how hard he tried. He was glad that Leo was still awake to get them out of this hell-hole.

“‘Nardo, can you open the portal? The last thing I’m gonna ask from you today, I swear.” Donnie spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage, putting a hand on Leo’s shell as he nodded and tried to sit up.

Leo got his sword and in a hard attempt sliced on the ground, for the blue shiny circle to appear. The sword fell from his hand as he collapsed on his side. Staying awake was becoming a difficult task.

“RAPH! COME ON!” Donnie called as he picked Leo bridal-style and leapt into the blue portal, which directly led to their living room. Unbeknownst to him and the other, Raph had thrown a ton of bombs across lab, and before hopping into the portal, the red-clad turned to the half-conscious Bishop who was fearfully shaking his head at him,

“That’s what you fucking get for what ya did to my family.” The leader said in a dark tone before clicking the activation button, and jumping to his home.

Gladly, the portal closed just as Raph landed, which prevented the others from hearing the explosions. He needn’t have worried at all, though, because the living room was empty. Without thinking twice, Raph made a run for the infirmary.

Raph stopped in the doorway, his feature smoothing out and twisting in sorrow. There, one bed held a sleeping Mikey on the left, and another held a crying Leo on the right. Donnie was hugging his twin brother while sitting on a chair beside the bed, sobbing into Leo’s neck, and because Leo didn’t have the energy to sit up, he was merely enveloping his good hand around Donnie’s neck.

The oldest wrapped his arms around both of their shells, trying his best to not break in and cry. He attempted to speak out reassuring words instead,

“We’re home… We’re safe now… No one’s gonna hurt ya…” He squeezed harder on both of the twins, his burns stinging but he didn’t care.

“Don’t tell… M-Mikey… anything…” Leo spoke in muffled words as he sobbed, holding harder on Donnie.

“We won’t, Leo…” Donnie said in a cracked voice, “We won’t go in detail… I promise…”

So in the end, Leo finally broke. And only in front of his older brothers. That wasn’t so bad. Why?

Because he’d endured everything. He’d made it out alive. His brothers were now safe. The repeating thoughts made Leo relax, and after he nodded at Donnie’s assurance, his eyes felt heavy, and darkness consumed him as he fell into deep slumber.

His brothers held onto him for some more seconds, though, refusing to let him go...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could’ve ended it here, but some issues aren’t resolved, yet. And so, CHAPTER 3! ^^
> 
> Wow, this chapter took me three days to finish…
> 
> \--------------------------------------
> 
> “Why did Bishop.exe suddenly stop working?” Well, I figured that I wouldn’t be able to explain inside the fic, so here’s my simple explanation. Leo’s words triggered a memory. My take on Bishop is that his memory had gotten wiped years ago, so when Leo screamed at him to end his life, this somehow made him remember a time in his past. What the flashback was, I have no idea. Feel free to imagine it! ;)


	3. The Recovery

Leo opened his eyes weakly, his body slightly numb even though in some pain, but he pushed past the idea and moved his head to look around the room. He was partly confused, trying to register or remember what brought him here. His confusion was brief as it all came to him faster than his mind could handle, and finally recognized this place.

It wasn’t common for Leo to be held in the infirmary. Heck, it had been so long since he’d gotten severely hurt that he forgot what the room looked like. Most of the time when he gets hurt in missions, it would either be some minor cuts or deep ones that he could take care of himself. Sometimes he could hide his injuries to prevent being under Donnie’s mercy. He just hated to be seen in a weak state.

But, there he was, under the weather on the medical bed. It felt cozy, he wouldn’t lie, and comfortable. Maybe even slightly relaxing. After all, he’d been beaten up and moving around too much wasn’t a good idea.

“LEO!”

The sudden happy call of his name perturbed him, almost making him jump out of the bed. He searched with his eyes for the caller, and once he’d found him, his content couldn’t have been described. There, standing beside the bed, was his baby brother, grinning widely, alive and well. Well, bandaged in different places, but at least awake.

“Mikey…!” His voice was slightly rasp, and for a moment Leo wondered about how long he’d been out. His wonders were shoved aside as he smiled when Mikey began calling in a hurry.

“GUYS! LEO WOKE UP!”

Hurried footsteps immediately sounded, and once Donnie and Raph made it, his smile widened.

“LEO!” Donnie and Raph exclaimed in unison, and Leo suddenly felt the air leave him as the three jumped on him, crushing him in a triple embrace.

“Oh, man, it’s good to see you!” Raph said while on Leo.

“You do not know how noiseless the past four days were!” Donnie exclaimed, for Leo to get slightly surprised by the reveal of how long he’d been asleep.

“We missed you so much!” Mikey declared.

Leo laughed weakly, “Alright, guys… Now please get off me… I can’t breathe…”

The three took the note seriously, and instantly let him go. Mikey sat on a chair beside the bed, Donnie sat at the edge of the bed, while Raph decided to keep standing.

Leo attempted to sit right up. It was a hard process, but Leo learned to cope with it. His brothers only watched as he succeeded in hoisting himself.

“I suppose we have a lot to talk about…” Donnie said, his expression glimmering as he crossed his arms.

Leo nodded in understanding, knowing what his twin meant. He flinched once Mikey put a hand on his shoulder,

“I’m sorry for what happened, Leo. Donnie and Raph didn’t tell me everything… but I know it was hard for you…” He spoke in guilt.

Leo smiled tiredly at his brother, “It’s okay, Mike… it wasn’t you fault…”

“Well, technically, it _was_.” Raph spoke hardly, making Mikey shrink as he shot him a look.

Leo’s mind blanked for a second, before remembering what Raph hinted at. His head shot up as he frowned, tugging Mikey’s mask tails, “ _YOU_!”

Mikey squeaked when Leo brought him close to his face, “Ow!”

“How could you go out without telling anyone?!” Leo scolded Mikey, “You know how dangerous that is?!”

Even though Donnie and Raph had already discussed that with Michelangelo, they didn’t stop Leo from taking out his frustration on him.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Mikey exclaimed rapidly, trying to free himself from Leo’s grasp, “I was just getting tired of being babied by you and the others!” He defensed, which made the situation worse.

“Are you kidding me?!” Leo pulled harder, “It _is_ our job to baby you!”

“OW!” Mikey’s breath started to quicken, which made Donnie order,

“Let him go, Leo.” The genius said with little interest, “That’s not really good for him in his state…”

The slider huffed and opened his palm in annoyance, making Mikey twist his head in its original pose.

“We already told Pops and he grounded him f’r two weeks.” Raph said.

“Yeah. Even I couldn’t stand up for him.” Donnie said, focusing his gaze towards his twin, “Served him right…”

Mikey’s eyes casted downwards in guilt and shame, “Alright guys… that’s enough… I said I’m sorry…” his voice was low.

Leo knew that Mikey had never intended for any of that to happen, but it was still a foolish and a dangerous act. If they pulled mercy on it, then Mikey would never learn from his mistake. That’s why they were all refusing to go soft on him.

But each one of them was sure it won’t take long before they all drop the act.

Leo sighed in annoyance, “Mikey, you should know that we’re not doing this because we think that everything is your fault.” Mikey looked up at him and he continued, “We’re doing this because it could’ve gotten you seriously hurt. What if Bishop decided to capture you in one of these nights, hmm? How would’ve we known where to find you?”

All motion in the room stopped upon Leo’s words, the images of Mikey being all alone in that lab with the heartless human sent shivers into all of them. Leo realized he made a mistake saying this, and babbled in a quiet voice,

“I-I’m sorry… I wasn’t thinking…”

“It’s okay…” Mikey was surprisingly the one to say, “I know why I’m getting grounded, Leo, and I know that I did wrong; that’s why I accepted it without whining…” He sent a small smile.

Leo returned it, and the infirmary was quiet for a moment, before Donnie spoke,

“ _So_ , now that we resolved the issue with Mikey; let’s now talk about the _stunt_ Leo pulled four days ago.” He said in a pissed tone as he stared at Leo’s eyes with his brows furrowed.

Leo frowned. He was aware that this was going to be discussed sooner or later. He wasn’t sure if he was too comfortable with talking about that issue, though, but knew that he had no choice.

“What stunt?” Mikey asked, confusion clear in his eyes as he realized how tense the atmosphere had become.

“Well, _apparently_ , Mr. Bluey right there ordered us repeatedly to escape without him back in the lab…” Donnie said heatedly without getting into detail just as he promised.

Mikey knew that it was more than that, but kept his mouth shut. The three simply waited for Leo to talk.

“I needed you to leave… I had no other choice…” Leo finally replied.

“The choice of you screaming at a demented man to _DISPATCH_ you?!” Donnie spoke in big words that he knew Mikey wouldn’t understand.

“Well, I’m sorry!” Leo apologized in irritated mockery, “What did you want me to do?! I told you to leave and you didn’t listen! You guys were holding up just because of _me_! Why would you do that?!” He stated in puzzlement.

Raph and Donnie exchanged gazes in disbelief, before Raph spoke, “What are you talkin’ about, Leo? Of course we were holdin’ up because o’ you! We said that we were getting out of that _together_! You think we woulda jus’ left you this easily?!”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Leo said in no hesitance, taking the elders by surprise, “I mean, I’m the guy whose only job is to be bait and take punches for the team. What kind of a team even has a ‘face man’? It wouldn’t have been much of a difference!”

“Tell me that you’re joking right now, Leo.” Donnie spoke in a whisper, his eyes wide.

“I’m not.” Leo said in a collected tone, turning to the genius, “We’d die without you, Donnie. We’d die without Raph. And we’d be lost without Mikey…” He said in a low voice, his eyes casting down, “What would happen without me? A big chance of _nothing_. I’m not good at something specific…”

Heavy silence lingered for some seconds… Until the leader broke it,

“You’re good at many things, Leo.” Raph spoke softly, causing Leonardo to look up at him skeptically, “One is being able to hold still while Bishop… y’know… did what he did. I don’t have that kind of spirit. None of us do.”

Leo stared at the oldest with doubtful eyes, but Raph continued nonetheless, “You were brave enough to decide and take Mike’s beating. That was one heck of a strong move to me.”

Leo lowered his head, refusing to accept the fact that he had a worth.

“Do you think that I cried for you back there because of how _useless_ you are?!” Donnie exclaimed in fury, taking Leo by surprise as though he'd never expected Donnie to bring that up. “Screw the team, Leo! You’re my brother. You’re our brother. We wouldn’t have left without you. If you died back there, then we would’ve died right after you!”

“What he said!” Mikey followed the genius, even though he was missing a lot.

“And if ya ever badmouthed yo’self again, I will not hesitate to punch the sense outa’ ya!” Raph exclaimed.

“Neither will I!” Donnie yelled.

“And I’ll bring Dr. Delicate Touch to teach you some lessons!” Mikey exclaimed.

Leo’s eyes teared slightly, before he brought his good hand and wiped them with a smile. His smile widened when he felt the arms that wrapped around him, without crushing him this time.

“I need to know what happened…” Mikey said in a tease, “Anyone?”

“Forget it.” Leo said in a teary laugh, “Consider this another punishment…”

“Aww…” Mikey whined fakely.

The rest laughed half-heartedly, and after some time, Donnie asked the oldest and the youngest to leave them alone in order to change the bandages.

Once Raph and Mikey were out, Donnie’s feature fell slightly, and began with Leo’s shoulder. Leo only sat there, the silence comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time.

“Mikey has never left your side from the moment he woke up…” Donnie stated softly, attempting to break the silence.

“I can tell…” Leo said, as he had acknowledged the black rings under the youngest’s eyes, “He probably thinks that he’s the reason I’m like this…”

“Well, isn’t he?” Donnie asked, still focusing on the wrap.

Leo paused briefly, “I don’t think we should remind him of that everyday…” He winced slightly as his shoulder started to hurt.

“We won’t…” Donnie said, “We just did today because he still had to see that he was at fault.”

Leo fell silent afterwards, his mind busy thinking about something.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Donnie asked suspiciously without looking into Leo’s eyes.

“I’m thinking about the chemical Bishop injected me with…” Leo said straightforwardly, not seeing a reason of going in circles. He lifted his eyes to look at Donnie’s, who stopped working. “How did he do that…?”

Donnie sighed, “Your memory’s still fresh…”

“Like it happened yesterday…” Leo said, confirming Donnie’s words.

“Well, I honestly have no idea what that chemical was.” The softshell admitted, “But I managed to get it out of your system, so don’t worry.”

“I wasn’t worried. I was just curious.” Leo said, feeling the importance of pointing that out.

Donnie stopped working once again to look at Leo’s eyes, frowning this time, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Leo returned a confused look, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re not afraid that that chemical can… I don’t know… put you through immense pain again?” Donnie asked in perplexity.

“Dude, I’m not afraid of anything.” Leo said with a proud smile, “Except for ghosts. But that doesn’t count! It was a scheme from Stockboy!”

Donnie rolled his eyes with a small smile, “So you suddenly consider yourself doughty?”

“I’ve always been.” Leo stated smugly, “You can’t deny that!”

Donatello focused again on the wound while talking, “Well, it _is_ true that you weren’t showing signs of apprehension in the lab.”

“Gladly call me Mr. Fearless from now on, thank you.” Leo said, being full of himself.

Donnie was secretly glad that Leo wasn’t letting what happened days ago to affect his spirit. Sighing inwardly in relief, Donnie uttered a comeback in his usual tone,

“I’ll never call you such ridiculous name…”

“Aww…” Leo pouted in a fake tone, going silent afterwards. His mind went into thinking mode once again, and he began contemplating. Mikey seemed to be doing fairly fine, even after the amount of punishment he’d received. His spirit wasn’t down and he didn’t appear to have a hard time dealing with what happened. Something that Leo was glad about, because he was sure he had a hand in achieving this. Mikey’s knock out came with a benefit like he had predicted.

Not to mention that Mikey’s wellbeing wasn’t fragile. The youngest in the family was very tough emotionally, and even so none of them would ever forget that experience, Leo knew that his family wouldn’t let that get in the way. Learning from mistakes was what they did, not crying over them.

Although Raph and Donnie weren’t worrying Leo as much, the slider was aware that they were also affected. The fact that Donnie mentioned the time where he cried in the lab proved that point further. But who was Leo to worry about his _older_ brothers? If anything, they would refuse his help if he offered.

A sudden jolt of pain in his shoulder caused him to hiss, and he looked towards his wound to see that Donnie had brought a cotton to clean it.

“Sorry, ~~Ferles~~ …” Donnie apologized, slurring the second word.

Leo’s head whipped, “What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Donnie simply uttered, continuing to clean the injury.

Leo paused for a second, before a small smile crossed his face. The tiny grin Donnie was desperately trying to hide told Leo everything he needed to know.

Then something struck the slider, and that he had been worrying about his brothers, that he’d forgotten to worry about himself. But he knew that he was going to be fine. Nothing ever got under Leo’s skin unless the stupid actions of his family. He wasn’t going to change that aspect right now.

Besides, he had his brothers.

They were going to be supportive and mindful with him in these following days, and Leo wasn’t sure if he should be blissed or annoyed.

But at least they had his back, and admitted his worth clear and aloud, that it may have even reached their neighbor's ears in the next tunnel if they had one. The fact that they kept praising him warmed Leo's heart to no extent, and he knew that he had to believe them.

I mean, if his _twin brother_ had admitted that he was fearless, then who _wouldn’t_?

~~

**_Fin_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done and hope you enjoyed! Man, I haven’t had the time to work on anything else except this, so, for any of who are following Six Hugs, April’s chapter’s gonna be a bit late! ^^’ Not my fault, though it kinda is. Just let me regain my non-dark mojo once again because the amount of torture, cussing, blood and swearing I wrote is making me want to bleach my brain…
> 
> This chapter was clumsily written because I was half-asleep while writing it. Any mistake is my stupid brain’s fault, and not mine!
> 
> Much love! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Contact me on Twitter! You can find me [@UniPopcorn1414](https://twitter.com/UniPopcorn1414)! <3


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